


Electives of Love

by ladderandsteps



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Exams, M/M, Randomness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 12:44:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12233106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladderandsteps/pseuds/ladderandsteps
Summary: I mean, I don’t normally do this, but I just really, really had to play Legend of Zelda, and now I don’t know shit for this test. Seriously, even if you tell me about the vampire fangs, it probably won’t increase my grade in any way. I’ll probably end up in my parents’ basement, you know? Jobless, poor, only ever getting protein by eating chicken flavored ramen because I wouldn’t be able to afford anything else...





	Electives of Love

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so, so sorry for the disappearance. Life became hectic and I was a bit miserable this past month. But I pushed to have this out before September ended. I became inspired to write this after I recalled my time as being a proctor for a class. Watching people take an exam is not nearly as fun and exciting as you would think. But anyway, hope you enjoy this! I own nothing you guys actually recognize.

_Which of the following compounds is represented in the infrared spectrum plot shown below?_

His sky-blue eyes dropped to the graph as he rubbed the bottom of his pencil against his head.

He'd been making many poor decisions since joining college. One was to double major in physics and architecture—really how he thought that disastrous combo would actually work, he still didn't know. Second was to take organic chemistry as an  _elective_ —seriously he must've partied too hard if he ever thought o-chem was going to be a cake walk. Third was when he blew off all his assignments and studying to play the latest  _Legend of Zelda_  with one of his best friends.

He was likely going to fail because how the hell was he supposed to know which compound was shown on the infrared spectrum. They were just meaningless squiggles. Plus, he didn't speak infrared.

He snorted softly as he checked back to the other students in the lecture. Unlike him, they were marking their exams furiously. If only he could read one of their minds. Because he seriously needed a good grade on this exam, otherwise his sports scholarship would be in jeopardy.

_Think Alfred, think…_

_What could these two fangs in the graph mean? Didn't Professor Roma say something…like two fangs mean something like a…ugh…vampire…?_

_Dammit…should've studied…or wait…which of these molecules look the most vampiric?_

He stared long and hard at the five options he had and chewed on the bottom of his pencil. Unfortunately, none of the compounds were drawn out, and he quite frankly never paid attention when his professor was reviewing how to draw the structures.

 _Alright_.

He sighed.

_Maybe I can go to the next question? Maybe it will give me a hint as to what this answer is?_

He flipped to the next page and read the question at the very top. Unlike the one before, this only had four options, and already his chances were looking brighter. Rather than a 20% chance of getting the question right, he had a 25% chance.

_What are the two major products of the following reaction? Make sure you note the chirality of the products._

He snorted as he flipped back to the previous question.

_Yeah, no. I'm so screwed, I might as well kiss my C- a goodbye._

_I have five options, maybe I could play eeny, meeny, miny, moe?_

He played the game quickly and blanched when he landed on option E.

 _Ha, ha, no. It's_ never _E. Isn't it like statistically proven that the most selected options are B and C? What if I just pick a bunch of B's and C's?_

He picked up his scantron and randomly filled out B's and C's. Flipping his test over, he quickly made a guess as to how many of those answers were right—based on random chance of course. Out of sixty-four multiple choice, he probably had at least twenty correct, so that would put him at a 31%...

_Shit…31% does not sound good…_

_Why the hell did I think taking orgo as an elective was a_ good  _idea? Even the curve won't help me._

He buried his face in his arms as he let out a sigh. All the students in the room seemed so smart. He was going to fail, and he would have an ugly transcript after this. No one will ever hire him after he gets a job…or even  _if_  he gets a job…and dear lord, he might have to hide in his parents' basement.

In his thoughts, he didn't realize his arm bumped his pencils. As they slowly fell to the ground, and he heard the little  _clinks_ , he realized his mistake and quickly dropped to the ground to gather them all. Everyone probably thinks he's stupid…

As he reached for his fifth back-up pencil—hey, you can never be  _too_  prepared during an exam—he saw a pale hand grab his pencil before he could grasp it. With a frown, he muttered a, "Hey! That's my pencil!" those were his special pencils he used whenever he created his sketches for his drawings.

"Relax, mate, I'm just handing it back to you," the voice was British and laced with just a bit of sexiness. He glanced up to get to know who the owner of the voice was, and he met emerald green eyes hidden behind a pair of red wired glasses.

_Well, hello, where were you hidden all these days when we were learning about aromaticity?_

The man in front of him frowned as he waved slowly, "Are you following?" he mentioned a bit unsurely. When Alfred still didn't respond, the mystery man leaned forward and snapped his fingers.

All of Alfred's fantasies involving the Brit disappeared quickly once the pencil was shoved into his hands. The man was already turning away which made Alfred just a tiny bit sad. Was it bad that seeing this exotic creature was the best thing that happened to him so far this day?

"Wait!" he hoarsely whispered. The man turned around, and Alfred was more than pleased to get his attention. It was kind of funny. They were in the middle of an extremely difficult exam. Instead of reading each question carefully to maximize his points, he was stuck under his desk speaking to what was probably one of the hottest creatures alive.

The Brit frowned—causing his monstrous eyebrows to come together—and began to turn away, but Alfred tried again, "Do you think this test is hard?"

"Well of course. Professor Roma warned us it would be a challenging exam," he turned again and muttered, "I need to get back with the exam and check over my answers."

"So, you know what you are doing?" Alfred whispered back.

The man turned back with a sigh. He adjusted his spectacles with slight frustration, "Well yes, I studied, quite long actually. Only had four hours of sleep last night and I would appreciate it if you let me go back to completing my exam."

"You studied? I mean…I-uh-I…actually, do you know which functional group is represented by vampire fangs on the infrared spectrum?" Alfred blushed. He was probably making a colossal fool out of himself, but  _anything_  was better than going back to an exam that was basically Swahili to him.

The man's green eyes widened—and it was only then did Alfred really realize how pretty those orbs were—as he asked, "A-are you asking me for a hint? That's cheating!"

"Actually, cheating is when I ask you to tell me the answer to question twenty-four," Alfred quickly mentioned. "I mean, I don't normally do this, but I just  _really, really_  had to play  _Legend of Zelda_ , and now I don't know shit for this test. Seriously, even if you tell me about the vampire fangs, it probably won't increase my grade in any way. I'll probably end up in my parents' basement, you know? Jobless, poor, only ever getting protein by eating chicken flavored ramen because I wouldn't be able to afford anything else, and—,"

"Do you want me to help you?"

Alfred blinked as he tried to search for any emotion on the Brit's face that would reveal he was joking, but when he found none, Alfred asked, "H-help? Are you sure?"

The Brit shrugged, "Yeah. If you buy me a drink, of course."

"A drink? Dude, if you do this for me, I'll buy you a million drinks," Alfred grinned. "My C- thanks you. Seriously dude, this is the best help any has given me, I owe you tons!"

The blond nodded his head once as he glanced towards the aisle. Turning to Alfred once again, he leaned over to whisper, "The proctor will be coming in about thirty seconds, take your damn pencil and pretend nothing has happened. As for the help, look at my exam paper. I'll circle all of my answers, alright?"

Alfred nodded his head furiously as he took the eraser into his hands. He quickly came up and locked eyes with the albino haired proctor. Gilbert—a post grad—stared at him confused. Alfred laughed nervously as he showed his pencil, "Dropped it."

Gilbert nodded his head once before continuing down the hall.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Alfred turned back to his British classmate. His new friend did not seem amused as he pushed up his red wired glasses. Slowly, he moved his test to the right, just right for Alfred to see every question. Quickly, Alfred copied down all the answers and gave his classmate a thumbs up once he was done copying.

This was the most exciting day he had since joining college. Even playing beer pong while his resident assistant was three doors down was not nearly as exciting as this.

As he handed his test and Scantron, he noticed in his periphery how the British man was about to leave. Quickly running after the man, Alfred stuck his hand out, "Alfred F. Jones, nice to meetch'ya!"

"I know," the British man drawled as he rolled his eyes and adjusted his glasses.

"You know?" Alfred raised a brow slowly as he adjusted his backpack.

"Every time you bloody come to organic chem lab, you announce your name and strut over to your lab bench," he rolled his eyes. "It's a bit hard to miss you, lad," he drawled.

Alfred stopped. When British hottie noticed Alfred wasn't following, even he stopped and turned back. Alfred blinked for a few seconds before announcing, "We're in the same lab?" British hottie nodded his head once as Alfred incredulously asked, "Dude! Why didn't I know about this before? I could've spent the whole semester trying to get to know you instead of making it my goal to blow up random chemicals."

Needless to say, British hottie was not amused.

* * *

As Alfred slid into the seat in front of him, he opened the coffee cup and slid it over to the blond angel. After a bit of inquiry, he discovered that the blond angel was the president of the student government association, Arthur Kirkland.

Arthur glanced at him briefly before turning to the cup in front of him. His green eyes widened ever so slightly before he grunted, "What is this abomination?"

Alfred glanced towards the cup. He still saw the smiley face he etched and grinned at Arthur, "You asked me to buy you a drink. So, I went simple and bought you a simple cappuccino, and the smiley face is what I etched because my friend Lovino was too pissed off to make actual cappuccino art. You like it?"

Arthur fiddled with his glasses, "I don't like coffee."

"Oh?" Alfred pulled out his notebooks and pencils, "So, what do you like? I'll be sure to get it for you, next time."

_Maybe he likes Gatorade, like me! Or maybe we can bond over our favorite sports drinks as we cram for the next test._

"Jasmine tea infused with mint leaves, a hint of lemon, and a dollop of honey," Arthur solemnly mentioned as he dated his notebook page on the top left corner.

The smile slowly washed off Alfred's face as his nose scrunched up in mild horror.

_Damn, I can't stand the taste of tea. How are we supposed to bond over our favorite drinks if he drinks the one beverage I want to destroy off the face of this planet?_

Suddenly, Alfred perked up, "Do you like iced tea?"

Arthur paused in his note taking as he turned to Alfred, positively scandalized. His thick brows came together as he scowled, "You Americans have done enough by bastardizing tea. Everyone knows tea is drunk while it is scalding hot." Arthur closed his notebook as he began to stick it back into his bag. Most definitely probably wanted to leave Alfred.

"I—uh—sorry, what else do you like? Like what do you usually eat for breakfast?" Alfred tried as a blush passed over his cheeks. Whatever Arthur said, he would just agree to it and say he loved it, too. Besides, he's had traditional English breakfasts before and he's tolerated them enough.

"Toast with some butter and marmite," Arthur raised a brow as if he were testing Alfred, daring Alfred to say 'Eww,' or 'Yuck.'

But Alfred grinned, "Marmite? Dude I  _love_  marmite! Eat it for every meal, all day, every day!"

His green eyes widened for a brief second, "Really?" Alfred nodded his head as Arthur managed a smile, "It  _is_  delicious. Glad we have something in common."

_Yeah, I'm glad, too, cutie!_

* * *

"Alfred-san, what are you doing?"

Alfred glanced up from his piece of toast, "Remember how I was telling you 'bout this cute British guy I met in my organic chem class?" Kiku nodded his head once. "Well I kind of lied and told him I  _really, really_  liked marmite, but I didn't know what it was. So, I rushed to the grocery store and went to the international aisle and just grabbed it. And dude, it has the same color as Nutella, but for some reason my heart is telling me it tastes nothing like Nutella and I'm kind of scared."

Kiku leaned over and to observe the piece of toast that had a healthy slab of butter and a thick layer of marmite on the top. Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he turned to Alfred, "You could always tell him you don't like marmite. I'm pretty sure you would find something else in common, Alfred-san."

"No, I quite frankly don't," he winced as he picked up the piece of toast. "Here goes nothing!" He stuffed the toast into his mouth in whole and began to chew. Immediately, though, he tasted the saltiness and spit it out on to his plate, "Disgusting! Uh, yuck! How in the world could he eat this?" He pushed past Kiku and ran to the sink.

Kiku ignored the sound of Alfred's complaints as he picked up the bottle of marmite. He had roomed with Alfred for more than a year, and very few things could faze Alfred's food palette. As long as it had some type of taste, Alfred was more than ready to stuff it into his face. So, it was a bit surprising to see Alfred's reaction to this small bottle.

Alfred stumbled back into the room while wiping his mouth with his sleeve, "That was one of the most disgusting things I've ever eaten!" He snatched the bottle of marmite from Kiku and asked softly, "Do you think if I eat it enough, I'll get used to the taste?"

"Alfred-san?" Kiku raised his brow in confusion.

"I mean he already knows I don't like tea, so I can't really lie about that," he stared at the bottle of marmite with dread. "He told me he liked marmite, and I can't imagine what else he likes." He grabbed another piece of bread, "Besides, maybe it's an acquired taste. Maybe if I eat it enough, I'll like it?"

"Or maybe he is not the person for you," Kiku rolled his eyes. "I'm fairly sure there are hundreds of people on campus who share the same food interests as you."

"Yeah, but none of them make my heart explode like Arthur when he smiles," Alfred closed his eyes as he stuffed the other piece of toast in his mouth. "Hey, it's not as bad the second time around! Actually, no it's still terrible!"

* * *

In the two weeks he'd gotten to know Arthur, he was unfortunately not making any progress. Arthur never was impressed with him, and yeah he didn't make the greatest of first impressions by asking to cheat off Arthur, but Alfred really wasn't all that bad!

All his friends always loved him for his spontaneity. He always did everything without a second thought, and he always got what he wanted. But no matter how charming he was around Arthur, he received nothing. No smile, no laugh, no nothing! He even almost set a fire the chemistry lab to catch Arthur's attention! Their TA was freaking about the mini fire, but Arthur didn't even blink.

The last time he saw his cutie's smile was when he lied about marmite.

And he was craving for another smile.

"Your exams have been graded, and the scores had a wide range. The highest score was a 100, so I do not find any reason to scale your scores," their professor announced as he handed the stack of exams to the TAs. "Gilbert and Elizabeta will pass out your exams. In the last fifteen minutes of lecture, I will accept any questions or concerns."

Alfred took his attention off Arthur as he took his test from Gilbert. He wasn't too worried about his grade. He copied off Arthur, and Arthur seemed tons smart anyway. He always had the best grades in lab, so no doubt he knew his stuff for lecture as well.

He slipped the exam in his folder as he turned to Arthur. Elizabeta handed Arthur's exam, and Arthur grinned back at him, a genuine smile that extended across his face. Alfred grumbled softly as he turned away. Why didn't British cutie look at him like that? He would do anything for a reaction.

As class continued, Arthur's posture was a little bit more stiff. He kept glancing back and pursing his lips in dissatisfaction. Seeing Arthur's worry distracted Alfred from taking his notes. Once Professor Roma ended the lecture, Alfred turned to Arthur and took the liberty of placing his hand on Arthur's shoulders, "Artie? What happened?"

Arthur turned to Alfred slowly and shook his head, "Just my grade on the exam…I was thinking about a few things."

Alfred frowned, "You're a smart cookie. I'm pretty sure you did fine."

"No, I didn't," Arthur frowned as he began to pack his notebook away. His exam, which was faced down, was left untouched.

Alfred leaned back slowly as he pulled out his notebook. Arthur couldn't possibly be worried about an exam. Quickly fishing out his exam, he pulled it out and turned it around. When he saw the grade on the top left corner, he felt as though someone punched him.

_A zero?! No wonder Arthur seemed so spacey._

Alfred turned to glance at Arthur in pity.

_Even if I guessed, I would've done better. No wonder the poor dude is so sad._

"Art—," Alfred began but was rudely interrupted by a sing-voice of a Frenchman.

" _Oh Arthur!_ " a blond man skipped over with a large grin on his face. Arthur glanced up and growled in frustration as the man leaned over to pinch Arthur's cheeks, "What did you get on your exam,  _mon_   _cher_?"

Frenchie leaned over Arthur and snatched Arthur's exam before chortling with delight, "A measly  _98_ ,  _mon petit rosbif_ , I thought you could do better than that! I on the other hand, received a 100!" he showed his test which had a 100 along with two stars and an 'Excellent!' written on top.

Alfred blinked a couple of times and wondered if he heard right. The blond was a little bit hard to understand with the thick French accent, but even Alfred didn't think he was that dumb to confuse zero with a ninety-eight. When the blonde turned over Arthur's exam though, all his doubts were cleared. On the top left corner of Arthur's exam was a deep red 98 which was circled, and right next to that was a golden star.

Alfred's mouth dropped open as he turned back to the test. He ignored Arthur's angry banter with the Frenchman as he stared at the zero on the top of the page. He must've been really out of it when he copied Arthur's answers.

_How in the hell did I get a 0 when Artie got a 98?! Was I that out of it! My grade is forever ruined!_

Too deep in his thoughts, he didn't realize that Arthur left. Quickly grabbing his bag, he ran out and caught up to Arthur. He expected Arthur to acknowledge him or something, but the second Arthur saw Alfred, he only rolled his eyes with annoyance.

Alfred chuckled softly—and awkwardly—as he rubbed the back of his head, "Hiya Artie! Funny thing actually. I must've been totally out when I was copying your test because—,"

Arthur stopped in his tracks and crossed his arms, "You received a zero?" he finished. Alfred nodded his head slowly. Arthur smiled as he patted Alfred's shoulder. On any  _other_  occasion, Alfred would've jumped for joy at this contact, but right now, considering he just tanked organic chem and his GPA would take a major hit, he was just confused. "I know," Arthur smiled mockingly. "I gave you the wrong answers that day."

Alfred blinked. He didn't think Arthur had it in him. "But why?" he whined. "I would've at least gotten a 31% that day! I even ate marmite for you!"

Arthur glared, "I'm student body president. It would look poorly on me if I let someone cheat on a multiple-choice exam. Besides, I was originally going to inform Professor Roma about your willingness to cheat. You would've been suspended from this college, if I had. Unfortunately, I thought your little rant about living in your parents' basement was a little too cute. So, I decided to give you the wrong answers. Hopefully, this will teach you to never cheat again."

Arthur quickly turned on his heels as Alfred was processing whatever Arthur had told him, "W-what?"

"Apologies, perhaps on another day I can sit down and explain it to your muddled brain, but I need to go to the library. I can't let that frog beat me again on our next exam."

Alfred's shoulders sagged with unhappiness as he watched Arthur walk away. Suddenly realizing something, he cupped his mouth using his hands and called out, "But the next exam is almost two weeks away!"

"Exactly! Every second counts!" Arthur called back.

* * *

"So, Arthur-san was unimpressed with your cheating?" Kiku asked as he flew past the finish-line, beating Alfred by exactly 0.2 seconds. "I hope you do not take offense Alfred-san, but even I am unimpressed with your cheating."

Alfred tossed his Wii remote aside and grabbed the nearest pillow. He should be in the design studio working on his model right now. But instead, he hoped playing  _Mario Kart_  while eating three pints of Ben & Jerry's would help him get over Arthur's harsh words, though nothing helped. And now, his parents were even calling him to inquire why he bought ten pints of Ben & Jerry's over the past three days.

"I didn't mean to cheat! I just wanted to talk to him longer!" he buried his face into his pillow. "And now Artie will never want to talk to me ever again. Not when he's clearly more interested in speaking to Francis Bonnefoy!"

Growing up, he loved watching movies—especially action filled movies about superheroes. He loved it whenever the hero saved the day and got together with the damsel in distress. He kind of envisioned Arthur and him getting together like that. But Arthur was no damsel in distress, and he was no hero.

"Why would you think Arthur is more interested in Francis?" Kiku cocked his head to the side in interest.

"Because, the only person Arthur is invested in is Francis. Every thought in his head is, 'How can I beat Francis's arse' or 'What can I do to wipe the smarmy smile off the git's face?' How in the world am I supposed to compete with someone who looks like they've just gotten off the fashion runway?!"

Kiku frowned, "I don't think Arthur-san likes Francis-san too much, Alfred-san. Maybe you are overthinking a few things."

"That's what I thought too until Arthur wanted to be Francis's lab partner. Why would you be lab partners with someone you hate?" Alfred cried.

In every story, there is a villain. And in Alfred's little love story, Francis Bonnefoy, the vice president of the student body, was his rival. No matter where he was, Arthur could not stop thinking about the 'frog' and it irked Alfred to no end.

Kiku sighed, "What does Arthur-san like?"

"Everything I don't like," Alfred snorted. "Why did he have to be so cute?" he moaned into his pillow. "He should've never helped me pick up those pencils!"

"I'm pretty sure you have a few things in common," Kiku tried.

"But we don't. He likes tea, which I hate, and marmite, which I also hate, and studying, which I really,  _really_ , hate. We have nothing in common," Alfred huffed.

Kiku brightened at the final words Alfred mentioned, "Alfred-san, I think I know of a way you can capture Arthur-san's interest."

"How?" Alfred mumbled.

"Why don't you study really hard for the next test and try to beat Arthur-san's score? If Arthur-san sees you are intelligent, he will be more willing to speak with you."

Alfred considered Kiku's words for all but two seconds before bursting out in laughter, "Kiku, me studying and beating Arthur is impossible. Arthur knows his shit, while I have never paid attention in class."

"Nonsense, if you focus on studying, you'll be able to do it," Kiku smiled. "Besides, Alfred-san, nothing is impossible—," before Kiku could finish his inspiring monologue, Alfred cut him off with an eye roll.

* * *

The next exam was in a week and a half, and he had tons of material to cover. Not only did he have to revisit whatever he learned in this semester, but he also had to revisit whatever he learned  _last_  semester to understand exactly where he was screwing up.

He was going to die.

Alfred sighed as he looked for a free space in the library. If he was going to study, he might as well be as far away from his video games and fridge as possible. As his eyes scanned the room, he perked up a little when he saw the blond of his affections hunched over a thick textbook. Luckily the seat right across him was free.

_This is great! If I sit right across from him, I could look up at Arthur and shamelessly ogle at him to get motivated to study!_

Alfred pulled on the seat across from Arthur before Arthur snapped his head towards Alfred, "The seat's taken."

Alfred paused as he looked at the blank table space, as well as the two other empty seats right next to the seat he coveted. There was no jacket, no books, not even a small piece of paper which said reserved. Scratching his head lightly, Alfred raised his brow, "I—uh—are you sure this is taken? I don't see any notes."

Arthur snorted as he opened his folder. Grabbing a stack of his notes, he spread it across the table and smiled mockingly again, "Do you see the notes, now?"

Getting the hint, Alfred pointed to the seat right next to the seat he wanted, "Is this one taken?"

Arthur shrugged his shoulders as he adjusted his glasses and turned back to his textbook, "Be my guest," he muttered softly.

Alfred dropped his bag and pulled out his notes. He began to re-copy his notes into a fresh notebook, and he even opened his textbook for the first time in the semester to do a few practice problems. Luckily, he was a quick learner, so he was finally realizing where he made mistakes. Unfortunately, though, he still had a lot more material to catch up to.

_I can't believe I'm studying for orgo because of a cute guy. I better get laid after this…_

Alfred glanced up at Arthur to get back his motivation, but frowned when Arthur was staring intently at the bookshelf. This was probably the tenth-time Alfred noticed Arthur staring at the bookshelf with a glare. Alfred turned to observe the bookshelf to see what exactly upset or irritated Arthur to that extent, but all he saw were Shakespeare books and analyses of English literature.

Because he hated those things, he assumed Arthur would love them. So, there should be no reason for the glare.

But unlike the nine other glares before, this glare looked positively murderous. Alfred stood up from his seat abruptly and softly whistled as he stood right behind Arthur. Just what exactly was British hottie looking at to make him so hot and flustered?

Alfred leaned down a little and inhaled sharply when he noticed that he could see Francis through the crevice that the books made.

_Does Arthur like Francis!?_

"Why would you think I like that frog?" Arthur scowled as he glared at Alfred.

_Shit, I said that out loud didn't I?_

Alfred gulped as he turned back to the Frenchman. Like usual, Francis was absolute perfection. His blond hair was tied back in a simple ponytail and was held by a deep violet ribbon. His crème colored sweater added to his allure. His black slacks and oversized sweater where nothing compared to that. Obviously, Arthur would be more attracted to the French man.

"Because it seems as though both of you have unresolved sexual tension," Alfred said without thinking.

Arthur began to sputter, "W-what the bloody hell! I loathe him!"

"So why do you look over in his direction every five minutes?" Alfred pouted.

"Because I need to know every step of my enemy," Arthur seethed. "I'm not leaving the library until Francis leaves. I can't let him study longer than I do. I have to beat him on the next test, so if you don't mind," he mentioned in a grated tone, "I would like to get back to studying."

As Arthur studied, Alfred couldn't help but think that beating Arthur's test score was the answer to get Arthur's attention. Clearly, Arthur's thoughts revolved around beating Francis. Alfred sighed as he packed his materials. Unlike Arthur, he clearly knew when to stop studying. But before he left the library, Alfred observed Francis's nonchalance as he flipped the page.

_Arthur's enemy is my enemy._

* * *

Despite his last-minute cramming. The exam progressed fairly well. He actually  _knew_  every answer. So he wasn't too surprised when he saw the hundred on the top of the page, paired with three golden stars. It was his first hundred in the class, and it would definitely boost his grade up considerably. After speaking with the professor, he was pleased to find out that the professor was willing to drop his lowest grade.

At this rate, he would probably end up with a decent B by the end of the semester.

"You!"

Alfred stopped as he turned around, slightly nervous. He'd been wondering of all the scenarios that played out after the exams were handed back, and in every scenario, he was really scared to face Arthur.

"Y-yeah?" he asked breathlessly.

Arthur's green eyes narrowed dangerously as he shoved his exam into Alfred's chest, "What the bloody hell did you do? I know you are all over this. I couldn't possibly have gotten this grade. I knew  _every_  answer!"

Alfred glanced down at Arthur's exam. He received a sixty-five, just barely passing. But Alfred already knew this. With a soft chuckle, he asked, "And why do you think I have anything to do with this?"

"Because I fed you the wrong answers in the previous exam! Clearly this is your retaliation against me!" Arthur grated. "Am I right, did you do this?"

Alfred stared into Arthur's green eyes. This was the closest Arthur ever got to him and he couldn't even enjoy the moment. When Arthur snapped at him again, Alfred slowly nodded his head, "Yeah…" Arthur opened his mouth, probably ready to scream at him like a banshee, but Alfred held his hands up in surrender, "But before you scream at me, I need to tell you two things. Just hear me out, alright?"

Arthur huffed as he crossed his arms. Even though Arthur did not want to hear Alfred out, he was willing to give him a few minutes, which Alfred really appreciated.

"Well, to be frank, I like you…like a lot. So much that I've envisioned this crazy future where the both of us get married and adopt three children and sing and dance every day because we're just so fucking happy!"

Arthur glared at him, and Alfred quickly continued, "But you clearly did not like me, so I pretty much lost all hope of adopting our three kids. So, in order to get your attention, I wanted to study and beat your score. And study I did. I fucking gave up  _Mario Kart, Legend of Zelda,_ and  _Call of Duty_  to study for this test. As much as I wanted to beat you, I also couldn't not get back at you for giving me the wrong answers, so…"

* * *

_One Week Ago…_

Alfred's blue eyes were trained on Arthur as he exited the exam hall. Once Alfred was clearly out, Alfred picked up his exam and Scantron and walked up to Gilbert. Out of the two proctors, Gilbert was the one that didn't give a shit. And luckily, Arthur passed his exam to Gilbert.

Alfred smiled as he gave Gilbert his supplies. As two other students came along, Alfred turned back to Gilbert and asked, "I think I forgot to write my name, could I just write my name and look over my test one more time?"

Gilbert nodded his head as he collected exam materials from a few other students. Motioning over to the pile of exams, he whispered, "Just grab your exam."

Alfred nodded his head with a grin as he fished for Arthur Kirkland's exam. Going back to his seat, he erased all of Arthur's answers and filled in the bubbles so Arthur would end up scoring a 65. As much as Alfred wanted to give Arthur a 0, he knew he would have no chance with Arthur later on if Arthur ended up figuring it all out.

* * *

"That's dumb," Arthur glared. "By doing that, you've erased every chance possible. How dare you give me a 65! I'm informing the professor right no—," he stopped midway as he heard a scream in the background. Arthur turned around and noticed Francis's blanched expression. "What the bloody hell happened to the frog?"

When he turned back to Alfred, Alfred rubbed the back of his head slightly embarrassed, "And that's the second thing I wanted to tell you about."

* * *

As Alfred was organizing his pencils, he sighed with relief as he noticed Francis hand in his exam. Like Arthur, Francis chose to hand it to Gilbert. With a grin, Alfred raced down and handed Gilbert his exam. As he packed away his materials, he slowly watched Francis saunter out of the exam hall.

Once Francis was gone, Alfred went back up to Gilbert and tested his luck, "Hey Gilbert, I just thought of something…is it possible to look over my exam just  _one_  more time? I just need to look over a confusing problem."

Gilbert sighed as he pointed to the stack absentmindedly, "Go and take it. You only have ten more minutes to revise, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Alfred grabbed Francis's test as he began part two of his plan to win Arthur's affections.

* * *

"So you changed Francis's exam?" Arthur frowned. Turning back to Francis, he noticed Francis having a near mental breakdown, "What did you change his grade to?"

Alfred grinned, "A zero."

Arthur stared at Alfred for a moment before his lips curved into a slow smile, "Really?"

"Yeah, your enemy is my enemy," Alfred whispered back with a grin. Seeing Arthur grin made his heart skip a beat. It was so,  _so_  worth it, even if he had to get suspended in the end.

Arthur turned back to Francis and called out, "Oi Francis! What did you get on the exam?"

Francis glared at Arthur as he stuffed his exam into his bag, "Not now,  _rosbif_!" He went past Arthur and ran away, probably to Professor Roma to get extra credit.

As Arthur laughed at Francis's sudden departure, Alfred grew shy. It was now or never. Luckily, because he was taking organic as an elective, he didn't have to ever see Arthur or Francis ever again after they took their final exam.

"D-do you by any chance want to get dinner? I know the whole three kids and singing and dancing isn't going to work out, but…maybe we can be friends? I swear I'm not this bad…I'm at least tolerable according to my friends," Alfred muttered as he glanced down at the ground. He was going to get rejected. Arthur would never want to see Alfred's face ever again and he would have to hide—,

"Sure, where do you suggest we go?"

"Yeah, I figured you would say no—," Alfred stopped as his brain processed Arthur's words just a second too late. Glancing up at Arthur slowly, he incredulously asked, "Did you just say…yes?"

Arthur nodded his head slowly, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. In the twenty years I've known Francis, I have never made him scream like that, but thanks to you, I've finally heard that beautiful sound. And to pay you back, I'm agreeing to dinner," Arthur smiled.

Alfred beamed back, "And I know it's a stretch…but can I be your lab partner for the next lab?"

Arthur frowned as he teased, "As long as you don't blow anything up."

"Pfft…babe, every time you smile at me, my heart explodes with happiness. I don't need to blow shit up," Alfred waved it off as Arthur smacked Alfred's arm playfully.

And because he was just so freaking happy, Alfred even managed to ask, "And do you think getting married and having three children is something in our future?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "First impress me with dinner. I feeling fish and chips, how about you?"

"I'm up for anything," he murmured as he grabbed onto Arthur's hand.

At this moment, he wanted to thank his stupidity for choosing organic chem as an elective.

**Author's Note:**

> Moral of the story, please, please, please do not cheat. I don't support it in anyway. This is just a trivial story that popped up into my head because of writer's block. But please don't cheat!


End file.
